Delicate 'power of translation' achieved by 'Miracle on the Han River'

[Anchor]
Until novelist Han Kang became the first Asian woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, the power of delicate translation was great.

A British translator who first introduced Han Kang's work to the world is also being re-examined.

Reporter Yoon Hyun-sook reports.

[Reporter]

"This work is Han River's [vegetarian]…."

Novelist Han Kang makes his name known to the world literature by winning the 2016 Man Booker Prize for The Vegetarian.

British translator Deborah Smith contributed greatly to the book's global fame, which was less than 10 years old.

The New York Times reported the award at the time and praised the elegant translation, saying it changed the original Korean text into sharp and vivid English.

Smith's translation, which studied Korean by self-taught, is characterized by simplicity while keeping the writer's unique style alive.

[Deborah Smith / 'The Vegetarian' Translation: A well-managed and controlled style that doesn't feel cold can be well communicated through my translation, so I focused.]

Even the original author, Han Kang, is amazed by the work's ability to utilize the emotion and tone of the work.

[Han Kang / Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature (when he won the 2016 Man Booker Prize): I think I'm lucky to meet Deborah, a great translator and friend.]

Smith took the lead in introducing Han Kang's book to the Anglo-American world, playing three roles in contacting and promoting publishers.

Smith's publisher welcomed the news of Han Kang's Nobel Prize, saying, "It's a huge victory for translation literature."

Han Kang is called an "innovator of intense poetic prose" and it is evaluated that the power of translation was also great until he won the Nobel Prize for literature for the first time by a Korean writer.

[Han Seung-won / Han Kang's father/writer: Because they captured beautiful sentences and beautiful worlds, they did not give prizes to those writers who were one generation older, but gave prizes to future generations....]

Korean literature, which has been highlighted as a treasure trove of the world literature due to the Nobel Prize in Literature.

I look forward to meeting more works with readers around the world amid systematic support to improve the quantity and quality of translated literature.

I'm YTN's Yoon Hyunsuk.

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video: Han Kyung-hee